Culmination

What a week. Mostly wacky spring weather again apart from the odd day or two and stoppers in the house, gib stoppers, plasterers, tradee's, what ever you want to call them ~ mess makers!!! To be fair they did clean up after themselves pretty good, they had plastic booths they erected around opens areas to minimise dust, but you know plaster dust, it just has a knack of floating anywhere and everywhere. But it's mostly the invasion, strangers in your house for a week. The guy had to sack his lazy worker for not turning up to work one too many times and so he roped his partner into helping with the job but with that things got prolonged. This was what my place looked like for most of the week....

At least they had a meaty size vacuum to clean the floor of plaster bits

I had to uncover my stitching chair, the TV and the cat's chair each night

Most of the mess was up in the mezzanine 

But my bedroom is on the mezzanine

So uncovering my bedroom each night was necessary

It is over though. They have gone and I have started the long process of cleaning all that white dust up....not good for my poor stitching fingers as plaster dust is dry, like rubbing chalk all over your hands loads and loads of times. Still, it's nearly painting time. Things will have to be covered again but at least I won't have to 'super dust'. We are getting there slowly....living this close to a renovation is not so much fun when you are in the thick of it!

Flip side of the week has been fun though. My studio is secreted away in a remote part of the building and has already been renovated so me and the dog could hang out there and create most of the time and create we did. We also spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen, brewing up coffee stain, painting and distressing. 

I decided that I wanted to make a few primitive festive characters this year and since I want to put the xmas tree up on December 1st I figured that I had better get on with it. Besides, I needed something other than renovation to be the culmination of my weeks efforts ~

Using a Threadbare Primitives pattern as my base I worked up the calico/muslin form for Santa. Gingee is a Peach Bottom Primitives pattern ~

What a mess! Coffee stain with a pinch of vanilla and cinnamon to rub in for that dirty primitive look I was after ~ and the kitchen was smelling very festive while all this was going on ~

Here's Gingee after he's been painted, coffee stained, cinnamon'd, dried in the oven and had a rub with the sandpaper for that well loved look ~

Here's Santa undergoing the same beauty therapy at the day spa ~

The two friends exfoliated of cinnamon bits and awaiting costuming and makeup ~

Gingee's good to go on display ~

Doesn't he look like you could just catch him and eat him, just like the fox ~

The pals, already to sit about for the festive season ~

Think I will make him the primitive xmas tree to hold now, all wrapped with rusty wire and bells ~

That was fun, next is a snowman or two and maybe another Santa, you can never have too many Santa's at Xmas ~ Ho, Ho, Ho

Only two sleeps until the 1st of December and Summer!